A daily wager in his early twenties allegedly abducted a nine-year-old boy to force him to call his (minors) 15-year-old sister and ask her to marry him (the daily wager). When the child refused,the youth threw him into a 50-ft deep dry well at Bulandpur,on the outskirts of Jalandhar city on March 27,the police said.

The matter came to fore Friday morning when a farmer,on whose field the well is located,heard the cries of the child and rescued him with the help of other villagers. By the the time the child,severely famished and thirsty,was pulled out,he had already spent 36 hours in the well,the police said.

Rohit Tiwari (9),a resident of Punjabi Bagh in Jalandhar was kidnapped by Arjun,a daily wager on March 27 (Wednesday) at around 5pm and was taken to Bulandpur,on the outskirts of Jalandhar city. The daily wager,police said,wanted to marry the childs 15-year-old sister and wanted to use the boy as a collateral to force the girl. He first asked the boy to call his sister and when the minor refused he even threatened to kill him.

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When the boy refused to be cowed down,the youth pushed him into the dry well.

I kept screaming for help,but there was no one to rescue me. I sustained bruises on my body and was very scared in the dark, Rohit said.

The daily wager,returned the next day (Thursday) to the well. Arjun came and called me. He wanted to know whether I was alive or not, the visibly shaken nine-year-old said.

Today morning when farmer Bhagwan Singh reached his field early morning,he heard the feeble cries of help of the boy from the well. He immediately informed the police. Later DSP Jasbir Singh Rai reached the spot along with a team of policemen and pulled out the boy with the help of a rope. The child was provided first aid before being taken back to his family.

An attamept to murder case has been registered against Arjun,who is absconding. More sections may be added later on, DSP Rai said,adding that as per the preliminary investigations,the youth had even tried to rent a room at victims house earlier.